Whether they are developed through the public or private sector, rural climate services have the potential to equally benefit women and men if they respond to gender-specific challenges to access and use of climate information in livelihood decision-making. The approaches outlined in this brief address these challenges and help to ensure that climate services are gender responsive, with a special focus on enhancing inclusion of women and their needs. Women’s needs and priorities often differ from those of men, and their ability to access and use climate services is significantly more constrained. To address these disparities and to ensure that both women and men are able to access and benefit from these services, it is critical to use gender-informed approaches.

Examples of these types of approaches include using channels based on information and communications technology (ICT) tailored to women’s needs, developing partnerships with civil society organizations and women’s groups, and producing climate information products that are relevant to women’s climate-sensitive decisions. To increase gender equality in the use of climate services, it is critical to target key knowledge gaps regarding the channels that promote women’s learning, and to assess the potential for climate services to contribute.